- Source: Camara Kambon
Camara Kambon (born February 4, 1973) is an American film composer, songwriter, pianist, music producer and educator. He is known for collaborating with Dr. Dre on 2001, as well as Eminem on The Slim Shady LP and The Marshall Mathers LP. He co-wrote the Mary J. Blige song Family Affair, composed the theme for the Mara Brock Akil produced CW sitcom, Girlfriends, and the score for the DreamWorks' feature film, Biker Boyz. Kambon has received an Emmy Award, two Emmy nominations, three Grammy nominations, a BMI Pop Award and a BMI Film/TV Award.
Early life and career
Camara Kambon grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. He was considered a musical prodigy from an early age, and his talent was featured in the Baltimore Afro-American and The Baltimore Sun newspapers. At age 10, Kambon was awarded a scholarship to attend the Peabody Preparatory School of the Johns Hopkins University, to study jazz, classical piano, and musicianship. At 14, he performed with jazz legend trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie at Blues Alley in Washington, D.C. It was during this same year he encountered composer and longtime Bill Cosby collaborator, Stu Gardner, who inspired an interest in composing for TV and film.
In the fall of 1991, Kambon received a Jesse Stone scholarship to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he majored in film scoring and music production & engineering. In 1995, Kambon premiered his commissioned piece, Korikabaya, with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
After graduating from Berklee in 1995, Kambon moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a composer. A year later, he became the youngest composer to win a national Emmy award for scoring the HBO film, Sonny Liston: The Mysterious Life and Death of a Champion. In that same year, Kambon was hired to work with rapper and record producer Dr. Dre as his keyboardist, music director and orchestrator in residence for all recordings of his newly formed company, Aftermath Entertainment. He performed on Dr. Dre hits Forgot About Dre and The Next Episode drawing on his classical background, which influenced the usage of strings and other orchestral instruments in this signature sound; Eminem’s My Name Is and Guilty Conscious; Snoop Dogg’s B**** Please; and co-wrote Mary J. Blige’s Family Affair, the singer’s first song to top the Billboard Hot 100.
With a film scoring career spanning over three decades, Kambon has earned critical acclaim and been recognized as a prominent black composer in the American film industry. Throughout his career, he has worked with several renowned directors and producers, including Oliver Stone, Tyler Perry, Mara Brock Akil, F. Gary Gray, John Singleton, Reggie Rock Bythewood, Rick Famuyima, LeVar Burton, Orlando Bagwell, and Macky Alston. Kambon emphasizes the importance of emotion in music composition, and holds a master's degree in transpersonal psychology from Atlantic University. In addition to his work as a composer, Kambon is dedicated to educating young musicians, while continuing to perform live as a jazz pianist.
Filmography
= Film
=Family Name (1997)
The Wood (1999)
Any Given Sunday (1999)
Michael Jordan to the Max (2000)
Dancing in September (2001)
Questioning Faith: Confessions of a Seminarian (2002)
Biker Boyz (2003)
Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)
Madea’s Family Reunion (2006)
Daddy’s Little Girls (2007)
Hard Road Home (2008)
La Corona (2008)
John Lewis: Get in the Way (2015)
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Acts of Reparation (2024)
= Television
=Dancing: New Worlds New Forms (1993)
Malcolm X: Make it Plain (1994)
Frederick Douglass: When the Lion Wrote History (1994)
Sonny Liston: The Mysterious Life and Death of a Champion (1995)
Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio? (1997)
The Tiger Woods Story (1998)
Damon (1998)
Girlfriends (2000)
2gether: The Series (2000)
OJ: A Study in Black and White (2002)
A City on Fire: The Story of the ’68 Detroit Tigers (2002)
Matters of Race (2003)
This Far by Faith (2003)
Citizen King (2004)
Daddy’s Girl (2007)
One Night in Vegas (2010)
Now En Español (2015)
Seau (2018)
The First Lady (2022)
Awards and nominations
In 1995, Kambon won a Sports Emmy Award for scoring the HBO film Sonny Liston: The Mysterious Life and Death of a Champion.
In 1997, Kambon received an Emmy nomination for scoring the HBO documentary, Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?.
In 1997, Kambon won a BMI Film/TV Award for scoring Sonny Liston: The Mysterious Life and Death of a Champion.
In 2001, Kambon received a Grammy nomination for co-writing Mary J. Blige’s song Family Affair.
In 2001, Kambon received a Grammy nomination for his keyboard work on Nelly Furtado’s album Whoa, Nelly!.
In 2002, Kambon received a Grammy nomination for his keyboard work on Eve’s album Scorpion.
In 2002, Kambon received an Emmy nomination for scoring the HBO documentary A City on Fire: The Story of the ’68 Detroit Tigers.
In 2003, Kambon won a BMI Pop Award for co-writing Mary J. Blige’s song Family Affair.
External links
Official website.